As you know, our HealthEE support team is HealthEE by HBG’s friendly and accessible resource for answering any and all healthcare-related questions. January is a hectic month, we have many new members onboarding and calling with questions, so I checked in with the team to see what patterns they are noticing.
One wholesome trend we see is family members calling on behalf of loved ones like parents and significant others. It is incredibly touching to see family members discussing their loved one’s options and seeking the best plan for their needs.
Following the holidays, many callers have been looking for general plan overviews and in-network inquiries. Our team has found that the best way to clarify the difference from plan to plan comes down to the correlation between cost and coverage.
The feedback we have been receiving from callers is the general consensus that our members love the flexibility HealthEE by HBG healthcare plans offer.
Tag: healthcare
Do you know what you’re missing from your book of business?
It is difficult to discuss the current state of affairs for any industry without returning to the long-lasting effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, so bear with us. Among the challenges and work-from-home realizations, there were some among us not afforded the luxury of WFH. Essential workers, we dubbed them, the (in many cases) part-time workers keeping our supermarkets, delivery services, transportation, and even hospitals functioning. Even now, as we have returned to a sense of normalcy, WFH is still prevalent, and part time employees are still on the front lines. They form relationships with a brand’s consumers, the ones who are the faces of a company day in and day out. And yet they are missing from most brokers’ books of business. Why?
Have we not experienced the vitality of the part-time worker these past few years? And of course we are also amidst a movement known as the great resignation, meaning companies need to do more to retain their employees. Covid-19 showed us how much we need part-time workers, but it also gave those workers every reason to want to quit their jobs. It’s up to employers now to find new solutions to hold fast to those employees and find new ones in a time where there are a plentiful number of WFH postings.
The pandemic has left brokers with new opportunities. Where traditionally, a broker’s book of business has not included the part-time employee, now they can. Not only is this a new market for brokers, but it also provides tangible value to the business owners. Part-time employees are the backbone of companies, and providing possible and accessible benefits will up current retention and incentivize new employees alike.
Take a deep breath this Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving can be a time you spend with loved ones sharing delicious food, football, and larger-than-life balloons floating their way down 34th street. Or for many, it is also a time of great stress as you literally and figuratively sit on opposing sides of the table with your family. Whether it’s politics, when you plan to start your own family, or any of the many life decisions you made differently than your elders, Thanksgiving can feel more like an interrogation rather than a celebration.
For those looking to the end of November with stress instead of delight, consider utilizing our wellness resource, eMindful, for help dealing with the added stress you are feeling. Thanksgiving should be a moment to relax ahead of the crazy holiday season, don’t let the relatives get you down; get eMindful to reduce your stress and practice your breathing to get you through the day when it gets here.
Thanksgiving may be the perfect time to start yourself on a wellness journey, as it is easy to forget to make time for yourself among the hoopla of the holidays. eMindful offers 24/7/365 access to on-demand meditation and mindfulness games. Daily sessions are 30 minutes, and you can choose a schedule that works for you. So treat yourself to self-care with eMindful this November and lead yourself to a less stressful December.
It’s not too late to get your flu shot!
Have you gotten your flu shot yet? It’s not too late, whether you simply forgot or attempted to walk into CVS in October only to be told to come back in a month. Here I am to remind you if you haven’t gotten yours yet now is the time. While you’re at it might as well grab that new booster as well.
The flu like many other respiratory illnesses is spread person to person through droplets projected when an infected person talks, sneezes and coughs. During the past few years due to the pandemic our society has had limited opportunities for such droplets to be expelled with the wearing of masks being prominent and social distancing causing many to remain a safe distance apart. But this fall as mask mandates become a thing of the past and many of us hang up our masks, return to work, ride the train and go to social events like concerts and parties once again we are back in the line of fire for cold & flu season.
Which is why it is predicted that the flu will return this season with seemingly extra force as our bodies are reminded of the countless germs we encounter and intake while going about our daily lives.
Making this an extra important year to get your flu shot if you have yet to do so. If you have not, whether you simply forgot or attempted to walk into a pharmacy in October only to be told to come back in a month. Here I am to remind you if you haven’t gotten yours yet now is the time and while you’re at it might as well grab that new covid booster as well.
HealthEE by HBG Support
We’ve all been trapped in a loop of “press 3 if you’d like to speak with a service provider” and “stay on hold for the next available representative.” With each awful hold song, you get more and more frustrated just to have a real person at the end speak as if they were a robot themselves and just want you to purchase whatever it is they are selling- whether or not it’s the right option for you.
That is not the HealthEE by HBG way. When you call 888-655-4053 or schedule an appointment online, you are speaking with the real people who make up the HealthEE by HBG support team. No premeditated scripts or robot voices telling you to repeat your name and date of birth over and over, just a conversation.
Personal, friendly and focused on finding the best solution for you, that’s HealthEE by HBG.
Schedule a free call here to discuss your benefit needs with the HealthEE by HBG support team today!
Industry leaders are catching our drift, do you?
Benefits are not one size fits all. Instead, benefits are a purchase to be considered, researched, and compared. We are not alone in these beliefs; a recent article on employer benefit news interviewed the CEO and founder of advising firm Next Impact, Lester Morales, regarding his views on employee healthcare. He spoke of his experience with his father having multiple myeloma cancer. Despite his father having employer-sponsored health insurance, the cost of the treatments forced him into bankruptcy. His experience has led him to believe employers should look beyond the traditional to find more employee options.
We couldn’t agree more. We created HealthEE by HBG to be that other option. HealthEE by HBG gives employees the power to browse coverage options. While traditional insurance is known for being a complicated and confusing process, it does not have the reputation of being one with various options. When asked what the most prominent misconception people have about healthcare is, Morales compared the process to purchasing a car, “You wouldn’t just drive to the local auto dealership, get in the first car and drive off without asking questions and negotiating the price. But that’s exactly what we do with healthcare.” Morale’s analogy is reminiscent of HealthEE by HBG’s co-founder Christian Stearns, who has repeatedly said no one wakes up in the morning with the thought of buying insurance. Car owners take great care in deciding which car they will purchase, and employees should be able to take the same care when buying benefits as it isn’t a purchase to be taken lightly or on a whim. Giving employees a sense of ownership and control of their health can be a powerful gift, especially now that inflation has taken hold and employees are trying to cut spending wherever possible.
The question becomes, however, is, who does the responsibility fall upon? Is it up to employers to seek various options for their employees? No, we don’t think so. With HealthEE by HBG, we have done the shopping around and created a one-stop marketplace of benefits ranging from healthcare to vision to additional benefits like life insurance and pet insurance. With a wide selection of plan types, we also offer these benefits at no cost to the employer. So give your employees the power to choose the coverage right for them and leave the administrative headaches to us.
Read the full interview here
How you can help employees with rising stress due to inflation
A recent study conducted by Qualtrics reveals a look into employees’ minds amidst rising inflation. The study found a large percentage of Americans to be concerned by their financial standing, considering it to be poor. To combat this, employees seek cheaper living environments, a second job or side hustle, and in many cases, an entirely new job offering higher pay. In addition, working from home has created ample opportunity for employees to take on extra work, whether extra hours from their primary 9-5 or something on the side. But, with more than half of working Americans considering holding multiple jobs, what does this mean for employers?
It’s no secret that employee turnover is a huge cost for companies. We have already seen employees quitting their jobs in incomparable waves. Businesses must evaluate where their employees are hurting and try to adapt. Companies can choose to remain passive, keeping an eye on those who may join the “great resignation” and trying to reevaluate work distribution. Or a business can be proactive and offer their employees low-cost benefits. Lowering one of the monthly expenses eating up their paychecks will give employees more disposable income for their essentials, such as eggs and milk. With money being a top cause of stress for many Americans, offering lower-cost alternatives to healthcare and additional benefits will boost morale and productivity and create a sense of camaraderie among the business and its employees. The best part is the companies themselves don’t even have to lift a finger. With one of our HealthEE by HBG custom benefits stores, employers leave the administrative hassle to us and get to be the trusted messenger bringing the good news to their employees.
Employee retention tips and tricks for employers
With the rise of quiet quitting and the great resignation, there has been no better time to communicate the exchange of value between you and your employees. The value you feel in the work they produce and the value you offer them in exchange as a boss. So read on for tips and tricks to encourage your most valued talent to stay put.
- Create Growth paths: Create an environment where you continuously discuss professional goals and pathways for your employees to make them feel as though they are progressing more regularly than the traditional annual performance review.
- Respect work-life balance: In the age of technology, this can be harder than it seems. It is all too easy to reach anyone at any time of day or night. As easy as it may be to email someone while they are away, over the weekend, or at night consider setting a reminder for yourself instead to speak with them about it first thing during working hours.
- Build good teams: A team environment creates the opportunity for employees’ ideas to be heard and to hear differing views of others. Creating a space where employees feel their opinions are respected boosts engagement and foster employee bonding.
- Offer worthwhile incentives: By offering your employees benefits such as medical coverage, vision, dental as well as wellness offerings, you are communicating to your employees that you care about their well-being and their ability to protect themselves and their families.
Let us help you knock #4 out of the park by contacting us at info@hbgnow.com to offer your employees an online benefits store at no cost! Using HealthEE by HBG as a benefit offering for your employees is free, fast, and frictionless for you as the employer.
Achoo!
After all this time, it is easy to forget that there are other reasons for coughing and sneezing than Covid. Still, as we continue to acclimate back to public life in a seemingly post covid dominated era, it’s becoming evident that this allergy season stands out from the rest.
Earlier this fall ABC News hit the nail on its head in Detroit reporting researchers have found that “climate change is leading to more pollen in the air we breathe and tough seasons like this one,” yet another reason we need to make efforts to become a more eco-conscious society. But more to the point, how can you set yourself up for less runny allergy season, well we have some tips to boost that immune system of yours;
Get moving
Implementing physical activity into your fall routine boosts your health and lessens your susceptibility to sickness. Now I know it’s common to throw exercise in to solve many health concerns. Still, the proof is in the pudding with this tip, a professor at Appalachian State University known for his research in exercise, nutrition, and immunology, David Nieman, told the New York Times about a study he conducted in 2011 following more than 1,000 adults living in North Carolina for three months in 2008. In this study, many aspects of the subjects’ lives were logged, such as diet and exercise and how often they were sick, but the number one lifestyle factor was physical activity.
Listen to your body
Now in that same breath, there is such a thing as over-doing it. While there is no measure for what is considered too much exercise, taxing your body can suppress the immune system making you susceptible to infection. Everyone is different, what is manageable for you may not be the same for your loved ones, so it is essential to listen to your own body and not measure or compare yourself to those around you. Stress and a lack of sleep can also reduce the body’s response to infection. Stay in touch with yourself physically and mentally.
Follow a healthy diet.
Now, diet is another easy ‘cure-all’ for health concerns for a reason. Brightly colored fruits, vegetables, citrus, fruits, red cabbage, and kale are all excellent sources of “flavonoids,” the chemical compound found in plants that help the body fight inflammation and illness. Additionally, items probably already in your daily routines, such as tea, coffee, dark chocolate, and specific grains such as buckwheat, are also considered flavonoids.
Keep those covid precautions in mind.
Washing your hands often, getting your flu shot as well as the most up-to-date covid booster, and even wearing a mask may feel oh so 2020 but will continue to lessen your chances of getting sick. Consider testing before big social gatherings, and asking others to do so can minimize the risk of infection to everyone in your orbit. While this is one of the worst allergy seasons, Covid-19 is still in the air, and it is still a consideration we must all be wary of.
Be prepared
Colds and allergies can aggravate respiratory conditions such as asthma. Ensure your inhaler and medications are recent and on hand when needed. Additionally, take your allergy medication every day of the season to fend off any sniffles in the future, regardless if you feel any symptoms. Implementing vitamins into your daily routine if you have not already done so is another way to prepare your body to fight infection.
Unfortunately, allergies are a seemingly unavoidable part of life, the CDC clocks as many as 60 million Americans suffering from seasonal allergies. All we can do is try to boost our immune systems and carry tissues in our bags during this time.
For more tips read this NYT article here
The Great Resignation?
The Great Resignation was a rumbling that began amid the pandemic and has grown exponentially. With millions of people resigning from their jobs and opting into the gig economy, where they can work from home, have more say over their worth, and be in control of their work-life balance. I sat with our co-founder Christian Stearns to discuss this phenomenon and what it means for business owners and employers.
Christian explained that he considers the great resignation a misnomer and that he feels this phenomenon should be called the Great Realignment, as it’s more than people just leaving their jobs. Its employees realizing and acting upon what they need to have a high quality of life. Amidst the pandemic, we as a society discovered we can measurably work from home, and in eliminating the time of a commute and the physical distance between the office and your family, it’s not surprising many do not want to go back to the old way of business, in the office, 9-5. Thus employees left in search of employers willing to provide them with the lifestyles they became accustomed to during the pandemic.
Many of you experienced this first hand, so I asked Christian how we could take this sour realignment and make sweet lemonade. His response was for business owners and employers to take a step back, recognize the need to give to get, the need for flexibility and that employment is not the one-way street it may have once been. More than flexibility, employers need to provide value to their employees. In this new wave with a booming gig economy where many work multiple part-time gigs or freelance for many companies providing access to benefits can be the differentiator.
As much as the move to the gig economy has given employees a new kind of freedom, in many ways, it has also created a massive vulnerability as part-time, and contract workers seldom qualify for benefits and insurance coverage. Filling this gap and covering this vulnerability can make all the difference when retaining talent, whether in the form of contract workers or even your full-time staff. The workforce is full of under-benefitted, and downright un benefited workers. The truth is that health workers lead to a healthy business, and we help make employees HealthEE.
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